masterofmagicfandomcom-20200216-history
Lucky
Lucky is the name of two identical abilities in Master of Magic. One is a Unit Ability, while the other is a Hero Ability which might randomly appear, but they have the same exact effect. A unit or Hero possessing the Lucky ability receives a bonus of exactly , , and . Any Melee Attack on the Lucky unit is also carried out at (a separate and distinct effect from the unit's own bonus To Block). Lucky therefore enhances the unit's chance to succeed in various die rolls it might be required to perform, slightly increasing both damage output and survivability. Only 6 Normal Units possess the Lucky ability by default, all belonging to the Halfling Race. Any Hero that has at least one Random Ability pick may also occasionally acquire Lucky (25 Heroes in all). The Lucky ability does not improve with Experience, but its percentage-based bonuses mean that improving the unit's attack and defense ratings (whether through Experience or by other means) also improves the total benefit from this ability. There is no known way of adding Lucky to a unit that did not start the game with this ability. Description Authorities on cosmic laws suggest that the race is neither to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that sometimes all it takes is just pure luck. In Master of Magic, the Lucky ability could be a mark of divine favor or a naturally-developed gift for making the most of circumstances. Halflings are inherently lucky creatures. In a straight reenactment of fantasy tradition, they can in fact be led by a wizard to steer the course of a war. From time to time, lucky heroes may also petition to join a wizard's cause who, like the Halflings, also seem to have a strange accord with the wheels of destiny, one that drives their abilities beyond their normal limits. Effect The Unit Ability and Hero Ability called "Lucky" work in exactly the same way. These abilities tip various random rolls in favor of their owner during combat. To Hit Bonus Any unit possessing the Lucky ability receives a bonus. This means that whenever the unit has to make rolls to determine the amount of delivered to a target, the unit will win more of these rolls than it would without the Lucky ability, thus inflicting more damage on average. rolls are used primarily when calculating the damage output of a Melee Attack and Ranged Attack. Thrown Attacks and Breath Attacks also require rolls for damage calculations, but it is currently unknown whether the Lucky ability influences these as well. A unit's To Hit score starts at by default, and may be adjusted by various magical effects, Experience Level, Magical Items (for Heroes) and innate bonuses. A unit's To Hit score is always measured in increments of . When the unit attacks, it makes a number of rolls equal to its attack strength. Each roll results in a number between 1 and 100. For each roll that comes up equal to or lower than the unit's To Hit score, the unit inflicts 1 registered hit on the target - causing if the target fails to (or cannot) block it. As a result, adding allows the unit to inflict more damage, since it will statistically win more To Hit rolls. Also, if the unit's attack strength is increased, the overall benefit from the bonus increases as well, since it is essentially a percentage-based bonus. Note that this bonus can raise a unit's To Hit score above 100%. Values over 100% are effectively the same as - meaning that the unit delivers exactly as much as its attack strength. Points above 100% are only good for redundancy. To Block Bonus Any unit possessing the Lucky ability receives a bonus. This means that whenever the unit has to make rolls to determine the amount of it has blocked from any direct-damage attack, the unit will win more of these rolls than it would without the Lucky ability, thus averting more damage on average. rolls are made whenever an attack delivers to the unit (though some exceptions apply). The unit makes a number of rolls equal to its score. Each roll results in a number between 1 and 100. For each roll that comes up equal to or lower than the unit's score, the unit averts . It can potentially block all incoming damage this way. Almost all units possess a chance, which means that they will normally block an amount of damage equal to 30% of the unit's score. Lucky is one of the very-few effects that change a unit's score. A unit's To Block score is always measured in increments of . As a result, adding allows the unit to avert more damage, since it will statistically win more rolls. Also, if the unit's score is increased, the overall benefit from the bonus increases as well, since it is essentially a percentage-based bonus. Enemy Melee To Hit Malus Whenever a unit possessing the Lucky ability is attacked, that attack is subject to a penalty. This means that whenever a lucky unit's assailant rolls for hits, less of these rolls will succeed, and the lucky target needs to mitigate fewer with its own Defense score and accompanying rolls To Block. This is sort of a mirror-image of the lucky To Hit Bonus described above, applying as a penalty to the attacker rather than a bonus to the lucky unit. It only applies to all To Hit rolls made during Melee Attacks (including Counter Attacks). Ranged, Thrown and Breath Attacks are not affected. Although reduced To Hit values do not change an attack's maximum potential damage, they lower the average damage output of that attack. For instance, most units have by default, so Lucky will cause those units to deliver only 20% of their maximum damage potential on average. This aspect of Lucky is also distinct from the lucky To Block Bonus described above, and will be effective in situations where blocking might be less effective or not even occur at all, such as under an Armor Piercing or Illusionary assault. Moreover, this hit penalty affects creatures with high and even Magic Immunity, who otherwise present very difficult targets for direct penalties of this kind. Note that this effect was removed in the unofficial 1.40n Insecticide patch. Resistance Bonus Finally, the Lucky ability gives the unit a bonus. This will help the unit's chances of succeeding any Resistance roll it is forced to make when trying to fend off enemy spells or certain Special Attacks. A large number of spells, including primarily Unit Curses, will force a unit to make one or more rolls. Each roll results in a number between 1 and 10. If the number comes up equal to or lower than the unit's score, the unit is said to have won the roll, and has therefore averted the ill effect that the enemy was trying to inflict upon it. Thus, the bonus given by the Lucky ability will statistically improve a unit's chance of surviving Special Attacks, warding off Curses, and averting certain types of spells. Units can have very different scores by default, with some already having a score so high that it will avert any ill effect even without additional bonuses. The majority of units, however, will find a bonus, albeit small, quite welcome. Improvement Table Both the Unit Ability and the Hero Ability named "Lucky" do not improve with Experience Level. In fact, Lucky is one of the few Hero Abilities that does not improve with Experience. Nonetheless, as explained above, both the and bonuses given by this ability are percentage-based bonuses, and will give an overall greater benefit as the unit's attack strength and/or Defense scores improve - which they normally will, thanks to Experience and other effects. Units with Default Lucky There are exactly 6 different Normal Units that possess the Lucky ability by default. They all belong to the Halfling Race, for which Lucky is a racial advantage: Halfling Settlers Halfling Spearmen Halfling Swordsmen Halfling Bowmen Halfling Shamans Slingers No Heroes possess the Lucky ability by default, but the majority of Heroes can acquire it as a Random Ability (see below). Acquiring Lucky There is no known method of adding Lucky to a unit that does not possess it when the game begins. However, Heroes may occasionally pick the Lucky ability as one of their Random Abilities. This is not available to Normal Units or Fantastic Units, of course. Lucky as a Random Ability Many Heroes may occasionally acquire Lucky as one of their Random Abilities. The Lucky ability is found in all Random Ability categories. Any Hero with at least one Random Ability pick may occasionally acquire it at random, at the very start of the game. There are no fewer than 25 different Heroes in the game that may do so: Remember that Random Abilities are determined at the start of the campaign, and will not change during the game. However, a Hero may select different Random Abilities for the next campaign. Category:Abilities Category:Hero Abilities